I suppose an apology is in order. This has been a hard season for me. When things go right, I’ve usually gotten some meat on the pole by now and had a chance to relax a bit and get a couple of posts out. Either that, or the weather has caused me to spend a day or so in the cabin. This year has been a struggle. I’m actually much healthier than I’ve been in years. The weather has been warm and dry. However, it has been hard hunting since The Opener, a constant repetition of eat, sleep and hunt. Even the trips to the Thoughtful Spot have been comparatively short. To answer the big question, at this point, Friday of Opening Week sees me still without a tag filled, and not even a good shooting opportunity to report. For the rest of camp, this is not the case.

It certainly started off auspiciously. We were all enjoying ourselves at sundown Friday night by the campfire at the Thoughtful Spot, when a massive 10-pointer walked up to us, about 30 yards out into the pasture and watched us attentively. I do not know what drew him, perhaps it was the Pat Metheny music. He spent a moment regarding us and then walked into the brambles behind the house and bedded.

Team Moose Nails the Half Rack

At 0730 Opening morning, Moose and Mooselette were out at Lazy Boy enjoying the sunrise.

We’ve been having a beefy 8-pointer showing up for the past several weeks. Last weekend, he showed up in the pasture behind the Thoughtful Spot with only half a rack.

Mooselette was just digging into her hot chocolate when the half-rack appeared. He was moving too fast for Mooselette, so Daddy Moose took the shot with his 30-06. The beast ran about 50 yards before piling up. He went 164 lbs liveweight, and what had appeared as an 8 point rack at a distance turned out to have been 10 points in reality. He went 205 lbs liveweight.

I spent Opening Morning at the Campground stand, and only had a brief glimpse of a doe running from something up on the neighbor’s property. She reversed course and headed back into the woods when she got near the stand. My afternoon hunt at Midway was a zilch, but I had Mooselette with me. That always is a good thing. Angus and SuperCore both sighted doe, but declined to take shots.

A Doe for SuperCore

0730 Sunday found Supercore in his usual lair at JagendeHutte. A doe came out from the barn at Broken Corners. He shot. The doe ran down into Dead Skunk Hollow a ways. Moose came out and helped retrieve her.

The rest of us drew a zilch.

Sunday afternoon, our new member, Foxtrot Charlie arrived with a massive smoked brisket. We all enjoyed a great lunch before Moose, Mooseletee4 and Angus took off back for town. Foxtrot Charlie hunted the Hundred Acre Wood Sunday afternoon. He saw nothing, as did the rest of us.

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A Monster for Foxtrot Charlie

Monday morning Foxtrot Charlie tried Angus’ favorite stand at Blackberry. I went back to Midway. SuperCore, as always, went to JagendeHutte Nothing came of it.

Monday afternoon, I offered Foxtrot Charlie the Hollowood tower blind and I went on to Midway. Not long after I had gotten settled in, 1620 EST to be exact, I heard my walkie-talkie turn on. FC had leaned in the chair and pressed the PTT inadvertently. There were a couple of light scraping noises and I could hear the chair creak as he changed position. I then heard the shot over the air a split second before it the report came to me through the window of the blind.

What had transpired was FC had sighted the buck come out of the treeline to his front and right and had to adjust the chair a bit to get a good angle. The big bruiser was on his way from Hootin’ Holler to the head of Left Leg Creek and crossed the pasture about 60-80 yards out. About half-way across he paused long enough for FC to pull off the shot. He reversed course, ran into Hootin’ Holler and crashed about 50 yards in. FC dragged him out. SuperCore came with the truck and it was all over and done with before I came out from Midway. Again, I’d seen nothing.

FC explains it all himself here:

After 39 year hiatus

The next morning, FC got out again to Blackberry. This time, he sighted a group of doe coming out of Virginia and nailed one with his 7X57 at 165 yards. This doe matched Supercore’s doe in weight (165 lbs) as well as the buck.

FC spent the rest of the trip out in the blind, contemplating nature and not really interested in taking another. His freezer is going to bulging at it is.

Aftermath

After FC’s departure on Wednesday, things have settled back down to the same old rut. My guess is that the oaks are still dropping acorns and the deer are staying deep in the woods and only attempting to feed at night. SuperCore and I have had fruitless sits in the unseasonably warm fall air. Temperatures have been reaching 70F in the afternoons. A front is coming through today (Friday) and I hope things improve for Moose and Angus. They are both due back this afternoon.

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